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You are at:»»Dukla, Vojvodina, McNeill, Gallacher and a marathon

Dukla, Vojvodina, McNeill, Gallacher and a marathon

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

I remember the 10th anniversary of Lisbon.  The BBC marked the occasion with a memorable documentary and on the exact anniversary, Liverpool won their first European Cup, against Borussia Monchengladbach in Rome.  Celtic had just won the double, which would turn out to be Jock Stein’s last trophies.

We had little to celebrate on the 20th or 30th anniversaries, but the 40th anniversary was marked appropriately.  For the first time, I felt we correctly defined the achievement of the Lions, not just for becoming European champions, but for pivoting Celtic’s history away from mediocrity to spectacular success.

The 50th anniversary will be the final big celebration, nothing like this will happen again.  The groundswell you see from the fans, in particular on the 67th minute of each game, is unique to this year.

All of this leaves you and me with a question, do we let the anniversary pass us by as just another night on the calendar, or are we going to mark the occasion in an appropriate manner?  It has to be the latter.

For me, this means doing what I can for the Celtic FC Foundation.  I’ve signed up for what will be my first marathon, at Stirling, four days before the 50th.  It is five weeks on Sunday, and if I get a move on, I might get to Celtic Park to see the second half of our final league game of the season.
Stirling marathon
I know most of us are not in a position to take on a project like this, but maybe you can support me along the way, the next five weeks will be difficult.

On a related note, I discussing the Dukla Prague semi-final at Celtic Park with my Dad, which happened 50 years ago this week, and he emailed me the notes below, on that night and on the Vojvodina game.  We should tell each other as many stories as we have from that era.  Here’s Martin42’s:

“50 years is a long time in football and sometimes our memories become a blurred, however that game will always loom large in my memory, as will the last few minutes of the quarter final tie v Vojvodina Nova Sad, to give them their full name.

“For the life of me I cannot remember who scored the 1st goal that night.  1-0 down from the first leg, we needed to score 2 goals and keep a clean sheet to go through to the next round.

“I will always remember the tension around the whole stadium as we won a corner and Charlie Gallacher trotted over to take it.  I am sure the whole stadium was thinking the same as me, that Charlie and Billy had done it before in the Dunfermline cup final in 1965, and that they could do so again.

“The wait seemed to go on for ages but at last the ball came over, as straight as a die, to the forehead of our centre half and then into the back of the net.

“The duo had done it again, Charlie and Billy, 2 of the most important goals in our history.

“As for the home tie v Dukla Prague, we have spoken about it often, and you probably know my memories as clearly as I, so what I will tell you is about the break into my butcher van. That was the only time I used the van to go to a game.

“I always went to the midweek games with Thomas and John and we would to in via the Hamilton Road and Gallowgate but that night I went to the hospital before the visiting time to see your mum and then went straight into the game.

“We parked on the London Road and ran all the way to the ground, watched the game in a state of frenzy, and walked back to the van in a mind state that you will know when you think of Boavista.

“Policeman were standing at the van when I reached it and found that the back doors had been forced open, and the inside trashed.  My knives and chopper were stolen.

“Back down to earth with a bump, well for a wee while anyway.  Just had to face the consequences when I got home, clean up the van and mop up 2 or 3 trays of smashed eggs.

“At the end of the day, alls well that ends well and the football was more important that night than the mess and theft from the van.”

I’m not looking forward to the work I need to do for this marathon, but this occasion requires a significant gesture.  For lots or reasons you’ll understand.

You can sponsor me here, money goes straight to fund the important work of the Foundation.

Thank you.

Published today by CQN Books.

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618 Comments
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  1. thetimreaper on

    The boy Concalves up front for Hertz think he’s better than what he is. Definitely not a team player.

  3. Delaneys Dunky on

    J McC

     

    Haha. Bet they made a few bob at half timers payin to get oot. Watchin Newcastle v Leeds second half. Better fitba so far.

  5. Almore on

    Gearóid98: -)

     

     

    Are you going over on the 21st of May? There’s a small debt I’d like to settle!

  7. jmccormick on

    Spectacular Spain on Channel 5 with the lovely Alex Polizzi. Great television and the lovely Alex is a woman who looks like she enjoys a good night out.

  8. Torontony on

    Thetimreaper – thanks for posting BRTH part 1. A very enjoyable read.

     

    Slainte

     

    Tony

  10. gearoid1998 on

    Almore

     

    I am but as I said never worry. Your credit is good -)

     

    Beannachtai na Casca.

  11. Delaneys Dunky on

    Almore

     

     

    A Bhoy fae Dublin I met outside the Craobh Chiarain Club last Easter, whilst we were both having a smoke and blether, bumped into me before the game last weekend. His second match at Paradise this season. Small world indeed.

  14. Almore on

    G98: see you on the 21st.

     

     

    DD: Was it Stephen?

     

     

    Remember: both matches v Soft Loans Co will be shown in Kennedy’s in Drumcondra, not the Bad Ass Café.

     

     

    Dublincsc

  15. blantyretim is praying for the Knox family on

    Luckily i cashed out before Leeds equaliser ☘️☘️☘️

  16. jmccormick on

    Looking at this Sun story, what motivates the bitter rants of McKenzie?

     

    It must be a personal hatred of Scousers, I think there is a great insecurity there. Almost feel sad for the worried little man.

  18. Delaneys Dunky on

    Almore

     

     

    We never exchanged names.

     

    Taller than me with more hair than me dark. :)

  19. thetimreaper on

    J McC

     

     

    McKenzie hates anything north of the Watford junction and south of Clapham. As someone said earlier, his name is trending, but sadly he’s not dead.

  22. Almore on

    DD: I’ll go with Stephen so:-)

     

     

    Off to mo leaba. Earla morning cycle to Benalmadena.

     

     

    Spincsc

  40. Hunderbirds are Gone on

    I actually think that the Killie v Minis game tonight, was the worst senior game of football I have ever watched. Dreadful.

     

     

    I have watched ten year olds with better game awareness than most of the Hertz players. Scottish football is in a terrible decline.

  41. Gary67 on

    Just back from Benfica v Maritimo game. 3-0 Benfica, all goals in the first half. Benfica are a decent team, especially going forward but would fancy our chances against them in CL. Not as good as in previous years when we played them. If they win the league, as is likely, they’ll be a pot 1 team.

  42. Dallas Dallas where the heck is Dallas on

    Roy at 11.02 pm.

     

     

    The late Colin Jackson scored more goals for us than Jimmy Bone, Wayne Biggins and Mo Bangura combined.

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